Psalms 55:15

55:15 May death destroy them! ¹ 

May they go down alive into Sheol! ² 

For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ³  down to the deep Pit. ⁴ 

Violent and deceitful people ⁵  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ⁶ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Matthew 27:5

27:5 So ⁷  Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself.

[55:15]  ¹ tc The meaning of the MT is unclear. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads יַשִּׁימָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashimavet ’alemo, “May devastation [be] upon them!”). The proposed noun יַשִּׁימָוֶת occurs only here and perhaps in the place name Beth-Jeshimoth in Num 33:49. The Qere (marginal text) has יַשִּׁי מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashi mavet ’alemo). The verbal form יַשִּׁי is apparently an alternate form of יַשִּׁיא (yashi’), a Hiphil imperfect from נָשַׁא (nasha’, “deceive”). In this case one might read “death will come deceptively upon them.” This reading has the advantage of reading מָוֶת (mavet, “death”) which forms a natural parallel with “Sheol” in the next line. The present translation is based on the following reconstruction of the text: יְשִׁמֵּם מָוֶת (yeshimmem mavet). The verb assumed in the reconstruction is a Hiphil jussive third masculine singular from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be desolate”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix attached. This reconstruction assumes that (1) haplography has occurred in the traditional text (the original sequence of three mems [מ] was lost with only one mem remaining), resulting in the fusion of originally distinct forms in the Kethib, and (2) that עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon them”) is a later scribal addition attempting to make sense of a garbled and corrupt text. The preposition עַל (’al) does occur with the verb שָׁמַם (shamam), but in such cases the expression means “be appalled at/because of” (see Jer 49:20; 50:45). If one were to retain the prepositional phrase here, one would have to read the text as follows: יַשִּׁים מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashim mavet ’alemo, “Death will be appalled at them”). The idea seems odd, to say the least. Death is not collocated with this verb elsewhere.

[55:15]  ² sn Go down alive. This curse imagines a swift and sudden death for the psalmist’s enemies.

[55:23]  ³ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[27:5]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the leaders’ response to Judas.